In wake of Sandy Hook, Irvine reveals school lockdown plans

The discussion occurred in the wake of the deadly shooting in Connecticut that
claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school.

During a town hall meeting Wednesday night, Irvine leaders tried to pull back the curtain on some of their training.

"You
may not be aware of all that we do in public safety," Mayor Steven Choi
told the group of about 200 attendees at Irvine High School. "Some of
that work is unseen, but each effort is important."

Irvine Police Chief David
Maggard said that the department splits the city into four patrol zones
that officers are constantly moving through. This cuts down their
response time to schools, he said, noting there is an officer in the
vicinity of each school 24 hours a day.

"They are not responding
from a fixed location or a police station," he said. "They are
responding from the area they patrol and are responsible for."

Irvine
police also conduct safety seminars in the schools themselves. Staff members of
each school within the city undergo the School Crisis Response
Training Program.

"We walk them through the process of what the
school would actually do. Who would make the announcement of the
lockdown? Who would call 911?" Irvine police Lt. David Klug said.

School
leaders first work through a lockdown in a tabletop exercise, then the
protocols are put into action during a drill on each campus with all
staff participating.

"It's all done in their own classroom," Klug said.

Teachers
first practice what they would do in the event of an emergency,
including locking classroom doors and hiding. Then they roleplay as
students in different scenarios such as what would happen if an intruder
breached campus during recess.

Police and the superintendents of
Irvine and Tustin Unified School districts repeatedly stressed
vigilance, asking that parents and teachers who know their schools best
not hesitate to contact police.

"The best defense we can have in
any school regardless of the layout, regardless of the physical security
plan, are people that are looking out for suspicious activity, people
who don't belong, suspicious vehicles in the parking lot," Maggard said.

After the presentations, parents asked how police presence can be improved in lower grades.

In
addition to the six school resource officers assigned to Irvine's six
high schools, Maggard said the department is considering adding another
SRO position for middle schools.

That level of police involvement assuaged John Panzullo's fears. He is the parent of a Beckman High School freshman.

"It
makes us a lot more reassured that the school environment has actual
police presence on the campus," Panzullo said. "Our son went to private
school, and he's just now going into the public school system. And it
was a little scary for us because he was at a school of 400 children.
Now he's at Beckman with 2,400 children."

Sanjay Dalal, the parent
of a University High School senior and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
seventh-grader, said he hopes principals will start neighborhood
watch-type groups where parents can volunteer to patrol outside of
schools.

He was, however, impressed by the level of training police provide to teachers.